Viewing order for The Lord of the Rings.

Film  Apart from the odd duff moment (hesaidit!.gif), this past season of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power has been a marked improvement on the first.  Although Sauron was a presence and a notional antagonist in the first series, having him being revealed and moving to centre stage helped to focus the story immensely and create connections with the rest of the Tolkien adaptations.

With that in mind, here's a carefully developed timeline of where the series fits in relation to Peter Jackson's films.  New releases will be added as and when Warner Bros realise they're licence is about to run out and they need to release something like The War of the Rohirrim, the proposed Golum prequels or pressgang the hobbit actors into filming some version of The Scouring of the Shire.

The Second Age

ROP 1.1 A Shadow of the Past
ROP 1.2 Adrift
ROP 1.3 Adar
ROP 1.4 The Great Wave
ROP 1.5 Partings
ROP 1.6 Udûn
ROP 1.7 The Eye
ROP 1.8 Alloyed
  
ROP 2.1 Elven Kings Under the Sky
ROP 2.2 Where the Stars are Strange
ROP 2.3 The Eagle and the Sceptre
ROP 2.4 Eldest
ROP 2.5 Halls of Stone
ROP 2.6 Where Is He?
ROP 2.7 Doomed to Die
ROP 2.8 Shadow and Flame

The Third Age

FILM  The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

FILM  The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

FILM  The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

FILM  The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies

FILM  The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

FILM  The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

FILM  The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King